


The Descent

by violentredstrider



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Demonic Possession, Gen, Hallucinations, Horror, Multi, Psychological Horror, Supernatural - Freeform, Surreal, black magic, canon verse AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-21
Updated: 2014-09-21
Packaged: 2018-02-18 06:50:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2339114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violentredstrider/pseuds/violentredstrider
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"And all the while it was deeper into the smokey darkness of the forest that they went, pieces of their minds and selves left behind them like bread crumbs for the crows that refused to enter this cursed void."</p>
<p>On an expedition gone horribly wrong Commander Erwin Smith leads his remaining number of Scouts into an uncharted forest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Descent

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I guess I should explain a few small things first before we kick this off. 
> 
> 1\. The setting and general time line of the story is as so: The events of the anime never happened, as in Eren Jaeger was never in Shinganshina, thus the events of the original story never went on to take place. Instead, the world went on as it was originally, as well as with the scouting legion. The fall of wall Maria and the appearance of the Colossal and Armored titan never took place either. So this is just another expedition for the scouting legion, nothing too fancy went on before it, everything was as it had been for the past 100 years that the walls had been around for. 
> 
> 2\. Yes Eren will be in this story, but he won't appear until the second, possibly third chapter. Where he's been and up to will be explained in the story so please be patient. 
> 
> 3\. Mikasa and Armin and all the other 104th are still alive and well, they just got left behind at the castle this go around. Due to them still being in training for the scouting Legion. 
> 
> 4\. As far as pairings go for this fic. I'm not entirely sure if I'm going to have it be a eren/levi deal or levi/erwin or just have levi not be with anyone. But I am leaning more towards levi just being kind of not with anyone, I do fancy the idea of AroAce Levi. Plus I want to focus more on the plot of this story more than on the romance of it. But you never know it could happen. We'll just have to wait and see. As for side pairings they might be there, not very prominent, but they'll be there. Not sure who though. 
> 
> 5\. This is an un-betaed story so please leave a comment if you see any spelling/grammar/awkward sentence mistakes. It would be much appreciated.

The scouts were silent as the grave, faces set in stony expressions that varied from some odd form of anger or determination to a knowing sort of sadness and resignation. Only a day prior they had flooded from the safety of wall Maria, each with a sense of hope or will to live. But not it had all been swept away, and all that was left in its place was a sense of dread or frustration at the inevitable outcome of their fate; and it was all because of the rain. 

During the first day of the expedition the sky had been clear and bright, the ground firm and dry under the thundering hooves of the horses. If a titan had appeared at any moment they would have been easy to spot it and make a quick and clear decision that would be relayed with the flare guns. But with the second day came the rain, the skies had darkened and the heavens had begun to poor down faster than the ground could drink it in. Months of planning completely wasted, countless lives already gone due to the muck and mist of the rain storm. Titans swooped out of the billowing mist and snatched up horse and scout alike, carelessly crushing them until nothing remained but a stain on the beasts hand. It was complete repeat of the Captain's first expedition.

Levi couldn't help but wince as the needle point rain hit his face. He was soaked to the bone, and squinting at those ridding along beside him he could tell that they were no better. He realized now that the scouts surrounding him were likely all that remained of the once hundreds strong legion. He didn't understand why Erwin had been so adamant to bring so many of their numbers with them, the Commander had always been one to neglect explaining his reasoning behind a decision. But there was no use in considering it all now, Levi knew Erwin was probably beating himself over it enough as it was. The last thing the man needed was for his Captain to start berating him over his mistakes as well. 

It was near impossible to tell when exactly they had managed to reach the tree line, as the sun was still blocked completely by the thick and unwavering clouds. Levi had a feeling that it was past dusk though, as the temperature around them only seemed to dip lower and lower the longer they rode. The chilled rain only succeeded in driving the hopes of the remaining regiment lower. If it wasn't the titans that got them then it would surely be hypothermia. 

Levi tugged at the reins of his horse, those around him doing the same until they had all reached a stop. Erwin, who had been at the head of group, now turned his horse and faced the miserable gaggle of soldiers. He seemed to consider each of them for a long moment, perhaps counting or making note of who was lucky or skilled enough to live through the past few hours. Levi didn't miss how Erwin's eyes remained on the younger members a bit longer than the others. Only a very few number of the newest recruits had made it through the rain and mist without being eaten or crushed. Levi couldn't help but grimace, death was a nasty thing, but the death of the young was even worse. He might have been a cold man, but he wasn't completely heartless.

“What are we going to do now?” It was Hanji who had broken the silence among them, they had made their way through the group and now stayed at Levi's side, their gaze serious and uncharacteristically worried. Erwin stayed silent a long moment, turning his horse a few times to survey the thick forest around them. This was uncharted territory, while the rain had greatly diminished visibility along with any hope of surviving, it had also caused the group as a whole to spur their horses to move faster and caused them to take less breaks. Which meant they had gone farther into the wilds outside the wall than had been originally planned. They were now in a forest that had been completely untouched by any of their previous explorations. And by lack of any sort of trails, and the sheer thickness of the underbrush, it was easy to imagine that this place had never been inhabited. Levi was thankful that he wasn't the Commander, he was much better at following orders than making the big decisions that could cost them their lives. 

“We head further into the forest.” Erwin finally spoke. “The forest is thick enough that I don't know if Titans would bothering trying to make it through. It'll be best to head further in and find a place to camp.” With that he turned his horse and began their journey into the forest. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Time didn't seem to exist here, Levi was convinced of that. He'd never really counted himself as superstitious or even remotely close to believing in things of that nature, but there was something wrong with this forest and the horses seemed to know it. Already three horses had spooked and thrown their riders, galloping off into the darkness before anyone could attempt to go after them. Levi warned the others to keep a tight grip on their reins, they couldn't afford to loose anymore horses. 

The only good thing about the forest had been the fact that upon setting deeper into it the rain had come to a stop, but without the rain it was easy to notice how desolate the forest was. There wasn't a single noise aside from the noises made by the scouts. One would expect to at least hear an owl or maybe a rustling of foxes in the bushes, but there was nothing, not even a single snake. The forest was silent, and yet it felt more alive then ever. Hanji hadn't commented on any of it yet, but from their place beside him he could tell they were teaming with curious energy. Levi was glad that at least one member of their party was having a nice time. Every few moment he caught Hanji turning their head as if to whisper some excited question to him, but luckily they managed to keep their self quiet. Levi was glad for it, because although it appeared the forest was completely deserted, there was a kind of uneasy apprehension in the air that made it feel as though they were walking through the calm before the storm. 

The apprehension only grew as the smell of smoke crept into the air around them. It wasn't just the smell of it though, it was the appearance of it as well. The little light that shown from their few remaining lanterns was nearly useless against the smoke that engulfed them. Levi found himself using his cravat to cover his mouth and nose against the suffocating haze. Others were not so lucky, they coughed violently against the smoke, others hyperventilating as they began to panic, ranting about how they were heading straight into a fire to be cooked and eaten by the titans. The longer they rode into the forest, the more their fragile structure began to deteriorate. Where the forest had once been silent except for the noises of the horses, it was now echoing with the screams and shouts of the scouts. They yelled and ranted at each other and at no one, some even rode off into a completely different direction from the rest, they would some how manage to find their way back, but they never knew how. Some of them had broken down into sobbing, heaving, and coughing messes. Others screamed and clawed at their eyes, accusing the smoke of burning them from the inside out. 

Hanji had long since been muttering to their self, at firs the had thought it was simply them trying to figure out what was happening to the others. But once he had drawn closer to the other to try and hear them, he found that Hanji had been repeating the same thing over and over again.

“Knees and toes, knees and toes, knees and toes. Knees and toes, knees and toes-” 

Levi had tried to tune them out after that discovery.  
Levi felt like he was surrounded by lunatics, he didn't know what was going on but whatever it was was beginning to affect him as well. He kept seeing movements in the darkness, black masses of far off trees taking shape and darting about. Once he thought for certain that he could hear someone laughing in his ear, but when he'd turned to look no one had been there. He and everyone around him were loosing their minds, and yet Erwin kept the course, not once did the man turn to regard his crazed soldiers. He was like a man possessed, or incredibly deaf and unaware. 

And so they continued as such. Screaming and laughing and crying. Hanji muttering as Levi's eyes desperately tried to keep track of the darting figures in the woods. And all the while it was deeper into the smokey darkness of the forest that they went, pieces of their minds and selves left behind them like bread crumbs for the crows that refused to enter this cursed void.

**Author's Note:**

> Its shorter than I wanted it to be, but meh. I'm going to push to make the next one longer and better. Please forgive, its been a VERY long time since I wrote anything so this could be shit = ^ = ;;;
> 
> But I'll also try to have Eren in next chapter. I'm just really excited for his character in this~ But not as much as I am for Levi's future developments. 
> 
> Also! a bit of a warning now, the future chapter(s) will contain horror and possibly(most likely) body horror. As this story has a LOT of hallucination work and demonic play, and is clearly stated as horror. I just want you to be prepared for that kind of stuff. Though don't worry, no one is gonna get like their dick chopped off and forced to eat it, no that is... no just no. Sorry if you're into that kinda thing. All body horror scenes will most likely be a hallucination so don't worry if your favorite character's face melts off, everyone in this fic is fucking insane and its probably not real. 
> 
> But yeah thats all, hope you enjoy!


End file.
